Comparing Excel, Access and REDCap as Data Management Tools for Human Health Research Data

Transcription

1 Comparing Excel, Access and REDCap as Data Management Tools for Human Health Research Data Sue Lowry Database Programmer/Analyst Biostatistical Design and Analysis Center Clinical and Translational Science Institute

2 Overview Looking at some tools that can be used to manage human health research data Benefits of and problems with using Excel Benefits of and problems with using Access Benefits of and problems with using REDCap

3 Benefits of Using Excel Excel is easy to use and is available to most researchers Most researchers are familiar with Excel Excel is good for what it is designed for, which Microsoft describes as: Calculations and simple descriptive statitics Creating charts, graphics, and diagrams Organizing lists What-if scenarios Automating repetitive tasks using macros

4 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Makes it too easy to corrupt or lose your data

5 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Makes it too easy to corrupt or lose your data Example 1: If you accidentally sort only the enrollment date column, that data is no longer matched to the correct records. study_id enroll fname lname 1 04/15/2012 Mary Lowry 2 02/03/2012 John Harris 3 01/05/2012 Peter Smith 4 08/02/2012 Paula Johnson 5 05/12/2012 Susan Jones study_id enroll fname lname 1 01/05/2012 Mary Lowry 2 02/03/2012 John Harris 3 04/15/2012 Peter Smith 4 05/12/2012 Paula Johnson 5 08/02/2012 Susan Jones

6 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Makes it too easy to corrupt or lose your data Example 2: If you have many columns of data, it s easy to accidentally change the data on the wrong row. study_id enroll fname lname final_visit flag /15/2012 Mary Lowry 02/15/ /03/2012 John Harris 05/03/ /05/2012 Peter Smith 09/05/ /02/2012 Paula Johnson 02/02/ /12/2012 Susan Jones 09/12/ Example 3: It s also too easy to clear data from one or more cells, rows or columns or accidentally change the data in a cell.

7 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Makes it too easy to corrupt or lose your data Most people don t use data validation in Excel

8 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Example 1: Allows non-numeric characters in a numeric variable

9 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Example 2: Allows you to enter measurement unit in numeric variable

10 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Example 3: Allows you to enter the same data in an inconsistant way

11 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Example 4: Allows dates to be entered with inconsistent formats

12 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Example 5: People sometimes leave a cell blank or put a quote to indicate that the value is the same as in the row above

13 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Example 6: Missing values are indicated in inconsisent ways (They should be blank or a consistent value outside the valid numeric range)

14 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Makes it too easy to corrupt or lose your data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Allows you to layout the data any way you want

15 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Allows you to layout the data any way you want Example 1: More than one observation per row

16 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Allows you to layout the data any way you want Example 2: Using color coding to flag certain cases instead of using flag variables

17 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Allows you to layout the data any way you want Example 3: Indicating grouping by placement in spreadsheet instead of using a group variable

18 Problems With Using Excel for Human Health Research Data Makes it too easy to corrupt or lose your data Most people don t use data validation in Excel Allows you to layout the data any way you want Excel 2003 and earlier versions, which many people are still using, have a limit of 256 columns and 65,536 rows for storing your data. It doesn t sufficiently meet HIPAA requirements for handling protected health information (PHI)

19 HIPAA requirements for data management Secure location PHI data reside on a secure server Encryption Data is encrypted Authentication Logins and passwords Authorization Role-based security Audit trail Created by event logging

20 HIPAA Compliance: Excel Secure location Encryption (manual) X Authentication - No X Authorization Not out of the box X Audit trail - No

21 Benefits of Using Access Many researchers are familiar with Access Access is fairly easy to use and is available to many researchers Access can validate data as you re entering it Access does not allow you to layout the data any way you want (e.g. multiple observations per row, color coding for flagging)

22 Problems With Using Access for Human Health Research Data It s easy to accidentally change data without meaning to, which Access automatically saves when you leave a form or record. In Access, you can set your own rules for missing values, like adding a data not collected checkbox field or indicating in a field label how missing values should be entered, but it doesn t have a built-in way of indicating missing values. Access doesn t sufficiently meet HIPAA requirements for handling protected health information (PHI)

23 HIPAA Compliance: Access Secure location Encryption (manual) X Authentication - No X Authorization Not out of the box X Audit trail - No

24 Benefits of Using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) A secure, HIPAA-compliant, web-based application designed specifically to support data capture for research studies.

25 Benefits of Using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) (A secure, HIPAA-compliant, web-based application designed specifically to support data capture for research studies) Easy to use Used by many researchers around the world Available free of charge to UMN researchers Makes it easy to validate data as you re entering it

26 Benefits of Using REDCap Makes it easy to validate data as you re entering it Example 1: Using field type validation

27 Benefits of Using REDCap Makes it easy to validate data as you re entering it Example 2: Using data range validation

28 Benefits of Using REDCap Makes it easy to validate data as you re entering it Example 3: Using multiple choice

29 Benefits of Using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) Easy to use Available free to UMN researchers Makes it easy to validate data as you re entering it Does not allow you to layout the data any way you want Web-based, remotely accessible REDCap allows participants to fill out surveys online Study personnel from multiple sites or functions can enter the data for which they are responsible All study personnel, regardless of geographic location, have access to all of the study data to which they have been granted access as it is collected Can export data to SAS, SPSS, R, Stata, Excel or PDF Includes features to support HIPAA compliance

30 HIPAA Compliance: REDCap Secure location Encryption (automatic) Authentication Authorization Audit trail

31 Problems With Using REDCap for Human Health Research Data People don t always set up the field validation for numbers, dates, and so on. You can, in fact, create an entire REDCap database that is composed of only unvalidated text fields. In REDCap, you can set your own rules for missing values, like adding a data not collected checkbox field or indicating in a field label how missing values should be entered, but REDCap does not yet have a built-in way of indicating missing values. REDCap s report builder is pretty limited

32 For More Information About REDCap Read information on the CTSI website: Register for a REDCap demonstration First Thursday of the month 2:00-3:30pm Third Wednesday of the month 10:00-11:30am Special sessions can be arranged for groups of 6 or more Watch videos and read the FAQ page on our REDCap website: Watch videos and read about REDCap on the project website:

33 Acknowledgements: Some of the information and examples for this presentation were taken from information on the University of Colorado s website at connect.ucdenver.edu, with permission. Other examples were taken from DataTips.xls from Philippe Gaillard in the CTSI s BDAC group.